The Family Shadow by Suzanne Winterly

Author:Suzanne Winterly [Winterly, Suzanne]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Alizester Books
Published: 2021-02-26T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Five

The present - 5th July, 2019

Dust rose like a cloak behind Ben’s jeep, shrouding the overgrown hedgerows where stalks of cow parsley and grass withered in the heat.

“You said you’d tell me about your grandmother,” I reminded him, winding up the window. “Kitty O’Rafferty’s cottage is down this hill and the first entrance on the right… on the edge of the sea. Please tell me about your grandmother… why did she persuade you to come here?”

Ben kept his eyes on the narrow lane ahead as the ocean swept into view, a vivid blue against jagged rocks. “Are you sure this is the correct laneway? I hope we don’t end up underwater.” He winked at me. “Just kidding.”

“Hey, watch out! This bend ahead…” Briars in low grass grabbed at the side of the vehicle.

Ben laughed, his dark eyes dancing, and swung the steering wheel to the right. A different young man to the one I’d met at the end of June; no longer reticent and withdrawn. Was it because I now knew who he was? It must have been a relief to drop the pretence.

“Gran knew I was at a loose end… that I’d dropped out of college, so she suggested I might like to do a bit of research for her. She said there was a mystery about her grandmother Harriet because she never talked about her past, but once Harriet mentioned that she might have killed her father. Just like that, just the once, as if she didn’t really know.”

“Where did Harriet live?”

“She lived in London most of her life and Gran said she was an interesting woman, tall and full of energy. She loved animals, especially horses. My grandmother likes horses, was brought up in the country and used to ride when she was young.”

Instinctively, I reached for my notebook and took a pencil out of my handbag. “And Harriet never mentioned her mother? She never mentioned Rosalind?”

Ben slowed the jeep at a bend in the lane. “Never. It was like Rosalind didn’t exist. Is that the house?” He pointed ahead.

“High gate pillars with a red letter box… yes, look there’s the letter box. So when was your grandmother born?”

“In 1943 during the Second World War. She was a war baby and her father was a pilot in the RAF. He survived but was captured by the Germans after his plane went down near Frankfurt.”

“And your gran knew Harriet well?”

“Yeah, I think so. She said Harriet was good fun and used to write imaginative short stories for her grandchildren but she never talked about her youth. She was a suffragette and she married a member of parliament.”

“A campaigner for women to have the right to vote? That’s interesting. Did she get arrested?”

“Several times. She chained herself to railings and… do you remember reading about several hundred women who marched on Buckingham Palace in 1914? Yes? Well, Harriet was one of those. Emmeline Pankhurst led a delegation to talk to the King. Quite a number of them were arrested by police before they got as far as the palace.

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